Where there’s a brawl in the NBA, you can expect suspensions to follow—quickly.

The fight Wednesday night between the Boston Celtics and Brooklyn Nets is expected to draw swift action, since the NBA league office is keenly sensitive to its players brawling on the court—and into the stands, among the paying customers.

So while the Celtics’ Rajon Rondo, when he finally speaks on the topic, likely will say he was only sticking up for teammate Kevin Garnett, fouled hard by the Nets’ Kris Humphries at the TD Bank Garden, Rondo likely is going to get hit hardest when suspensions are handed out—probably as early as Thursday.

After all, he was fingered as the instigator by the game’s officiating crew, which noted that neither Humphries nor Garnett threw punches.

Rondo should expect to be suspended multiple games, up to 10 if past suspensions for fight are a guideline. The New York Times’ Howard Beck pointed out, via his Twitter account, out that in 2006, when J.R. Smith and Nate Robinson got into a fight that spilled into the stands, they were suspended 10 games.

Humpries could be suspended, too, since the fight spilled into the crowd, though since he didn’t throw punches it likely will be shorter than Rondo’s punishment.

The Nets’ Gerald Wallace, for jumping into the fray, might be docked a game or more. Of all the brawl’s participants, it would appear that Garnett might be the most likely to get away with only a fine.

The bottom line: A team that isn’t exactly hitting on all cylinders probably is going to be without Rondo, a key component to its offense, for up to 10 games, a pretty high price to pay for what will be portrayed by Celtics players sticking up for a teammate.